Devotion
by brigadoonlove
Summary: Nicole Payne has always been exceptionally close with her family, but when a horrible accident takes the lives of her parents away from her and tears her away from her older sisters, she is forced to live with her cousin, who resides all the way across the country in La Push, Washington. There she finds friendship, love, and an even bigger family.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

Chapter 1 - Epilogue

"Emily," Sam Uley spoke softly to his wife who was elbow deep in a bowl full of pancake mix. She had a swipe of flour dusted across her forehead and she abruptly turned to face him. The boys were hollering about a fight that had happened earlier in the morning between two of them, Brody and Seth.

"Hey! Quiet down!" Sam yelled at them, followed by an immediate silence. Sam turned back to Emily and half whispered, "It's an attorney, someone from Maine."

Emily froze. The only people she knew that had landed themselves in Maine was her aunt, whom she hadn't seen in years. She immediately dropped the mixing bowl on the table, taking the phone from Sam and pushing it to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked quietly.

"Mrs. Uley?" a deep voice boomed on the other end of the line.

"This is her."

"My name is David Jergens, and I'm the attorney of Mr. and Mrs. Payne and family, I have some regrettable news to inform you, there was a terrible car accident last week and—"

The room seemed to get quieter as Emily's grasp loosened and the phone hit the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

From this chapter on, the story will be in Nicole's POV. Thank you.

Chapter 2

I sat uncomfortably on a bench outside the Port Angeles airport, bundled in layers with a tight hold on my one suitcase. I had briefly spoken to Emily on the phone before take-off and she said that they'd be outside the airport at exactly 3 o'clock. It was 3:24 and she was nowhere to be found.

I had wandered aimlessly around for the first fifteen minutes, given that I had forgotten to ask what kind of a car that she'd be driving, but given up because I was getting hot. It was cold outside, with patches of snow on the ground, yet the sun was shining so bright it almost wasn't cold. Just the wind was blowing.

"Excuse me," I turned toward the voice, which belonged to a tall man with broad shoulders and dark russet skin, the same that belonged to Emily. "Are you Nicole?"

I stared at him for a long moment before replying. This must have been Emily's new husband, the one our family hadn't met. From what my mother had told me, the entire situation was a huge controversy. Because Sam left our other cousin, Leah, for Emily. "Yes, are you Sam?"

He nodded. "I thought that it looked like one of you girls," he reached down and picked up my suitcase with ease. "Emily's got a few old pictures hanging up in the house, but most of them are from when you were all young."

I followed him to an old white Chevrolet truck and he pushed my suitcase behind the passenger seat. "It's about an hour and a half drive from here," Sam said quietly. "Are you hungry or anything? We can stop and get some food."

My stomach felt more queasy than hungry, seeing I was extremely nervous for how much my life was going to change. They had let me keep my cell phone, but the service was shut off because there was nobody to pay the bill anymore. My sisters helped me pack loads of boxes before I was sent off, and we shipped them to Emily's. We found it cheaper than getting a moving truck. I didn't need a lot anyways, Emily had informed the attorney that there would be a room ready with plenty of furniture.

I sighed heavily as we headed out of the city. "La Push has a pretty small school, and it's really exclusive. Only people that are a part of the Quileute tribe are allowed to be enrolled there."

_Interesting_, I thought. Where I'd lived in Maine was a fairly small community as well, so I was used to not having a lot of people around. I'd had a few friends, but none of them were extremely close. My best friends were my sisters. My family had always been so tight knit, and after both of my sisters graduated and moved to go to college, there was really nothing left for me to do. I was a cheerleader, a representative for my class, and I was in the Spanish Club. Those things took up most of my time in general.

The last few days had been so emotionally exhausting for me, all I wanted to do was curl up under a heap of blankets and sleep for 24 hours. We sat in silence for a few minutes before Sam turned on the radio. Country music sounded softly out of the speakers and I closed my eyes, letting the music drift me to sleep.

…

The cut of the engine is what abruptly awoke me. "Here we are," Sam said to me, which sounded more like a yell in my disorientation.

I gathered my surroundings and looked out the window. The house was two stories, but it looked small, with empty flower pots along the two front window sills. Some of the yellow paint was chipping off the sides, but it overall looked homey which slightly calmed my nerves.

Sam opened the door for me as I stepped out and felt the cold air hit my cheeks. Just then a woman ran out, her arms opened wide. She was bundled in a fuzzy winter coat and slippers, and I immediately recognized her as Emily. The three long scars that lined the side of her face were unfamiliar, but I vaguely remembered my mother racing to Washington about 5 years before because Emily had been in contact with a bear while hiking.

Emily's arms engulfed me into a warm hug and I immediately relaxed. I was afraid that coming here would be awkward, since I hadn't seen Emily in so long, but it really wasn't at all. She was the same person I'd known so long ago, we'd both just grown up a little more.

She pulled back, her hands trailing my cheeks. "Look at you," she said with a huge smile. "You look just exactly like your mother." Sadness overwhelmed me for a quick moment, and I could tell by the smile that disappeared from Emily's face, she felt the same.

"Come on," Sam said breaking the moment of silence. "Let's get you ladies inside, where it's warm."

Emily didn't leave my side as we ascended the porch steps and entered the house. Inside, it smelled like a wood burner and pie. The rooms were painted a deep caramel color, with a mismatched array of furniture staggered throughout the house. She led me up the stairs and to a door on the right.

The boxes we'd sent were stacked in the hallway as she opened the bedroom door. "We weren't sure if maybe you would want to paint the room before you unpacked all of your things," she explained while I looked around the room. Next to the door was a closet, and directly across the room from the closet was a window. A simple full bed was in the middle of the room, with a desk and a dresser opposite.

The walls were the same color as they were in the rest of the house, which was homey in a way but sort of bland. "There's a hardware store just outside of La Push, we can go pick out some colors in the morning if you'd like," she smiled at me and I nodded. Sam entered the room then, placing the suitcase right in front of me and then backing away. "I can help you put the sheets on the bed, or put some clothes away tonight."

"It's alright," I said quietly, still looking around the room. "I'd like to just be by myself for right now if you don't mind."

"Oh honey, of course I don't mind," she leaned over and kissed me lightly on the top of the head. "Dinner should be ready in about an hour, I wasn't sure what you'd rather have but I decided to fix spaghetti, since it's fairly neutral."

I nodded. "I love spaghetti," I assured her and she smiled.

"Alright, I'll send Sam up when it's ready," and with that she disappeared out the door.

I sighed heavily, and wondered where to start first. I knew that Sharlene and Lacey, my older sisters, would want me to call them now. But I wasn't sure if I would be able to talk to them without crying at least for right now.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next morning Emily and I went to the hardware store and I picked out a light yellow color, something that would easily brighten up the room.

"It's almost like she's here with us," Emily mused quietly as she rolled over the caramel color on the walls. I blushed, I'd been unaware that Emily would realize yellow was my mother's favorite color.

Emily was the kind of person that enjoyed keeping busy, and I could tell that we would get along perfectly fine. While the walls were drying she'd do small things here and there like chop onions and put them in a plastic container to be used later, or scrub the walls or floors. She was always moving and I enjoyed helping her work.

It took three coats to cover the walls completely, and then we dived into organizing all of the things from the boxes. I didn't pack a lot, because I didn't need a lot. I had a countless collection of books, with no book shelf so those got stacked in the corner. My lap top sat on top of the desk and a few picture frames scattered across the dresser and bed stands. We worked mostly in silence for the day, which was comfortable for the both of us.

"I do want to warn you," Emily said while we were organizing through some of my school papers. "Sam is on the council here, for the tribe, and there's a pretty large group of teenagers that are on it with him. They like to come here and eat or just hang out a lot of the times. I'm almost positive they're coming around tonight."

I found this piece of information strange. My grandparents had been on the council of the Makah Reservation, where I'd grown up, but I never remember anyone younger than 35 being on the council. I'd always assumed it was a privilege passed through many generations.

Since Emily had spent most of the day helping me with my room, I helped her fix dinner. She put me to work on browning the hamburger in a massive skillet, and I could probably bet there was at least 9 pounds of hamburger to brown. I couldn't even fit it all in one try, I had to split the process up. While I worked on that, she grabbed a few cans of corn and green beans from the cupboard. I caught a glimpse of the rest of the cupboard before she closed it, and it was just rows and rows of mason jars. Everything was canned homemade.

She mashed up probably 5 pounds of potatoes while I mixed the vegetables into the meat and dumped them in casserole dishes. She topped the dishes with the potatoes and threw them in the oven. "It's different having someone around to help out," she observed as she began to fill the sink with soap and water.

"Each of us had chores at home, and it was a rule every night to do them," I explained. She smiled warmly, almost as if she was remembering something.

We finished the dishes in record time and she then started in on mixing up some chocolate chip cookies, and scooping them onto a few cookie sheets. I was beginning to think she was mighty insane when the front door opened and Sam walked through, smiling at just the sight of Emily. There was so much love in his eyes it almost made me uncomfortable to be in room.

I counted 7 boys who followed after Sam, each of them glancing at me at separate times. I blushed before I could meet anybody's eyes and turned to help Emily scoop the cookies. I heard them all raise a bit of conversation about the new girl.

"The girls always get their plates first," Sam handed me a plate. "Otherwise, there probably wouldn't be enough for everyone." He handed a plate to Emily as well and she placed it next to the oven, shoving a batch of cookies in and timing to twelve. As soon as Emily and I went through with our plates, the boys herded.

I leaned against the counter while I ate, eyeing Emily as she sat her plate of food next to the oven and continued to scoop cookies. After she was finished with the cookies, she began running another load of dish water in the sink. She never stopped moving, all the while her food sat getting cold. My food was gone and Emily's was getting cold so I sighed, glancing at the now empty bowls of food that the boys had literally destroyed.

I grabbed Emily's food and shoved it in the microwave to warm up, and began gathering the empty dishes. She looked up from her task as I scooted her away from the sink. "Go eat," I exclaimed and she furrowed her eyebrows together. "Go on, your food is in the microwave and I'm done, I can finish this."

She gave me a thankful smiled and pulled her plate out of the microwave, digging in. One by one the boys began dropping their plates by the sink. When Sam dropped his he thanked me quietly for helping Emily. I shrugged, it seemed like nothing. We had chores when I lived in Maine, and doing dishes didn't bother me.

The last one to drop off his dish also thanked me quietly and began drying the dishes that I'd rinsed and set aside.

I looked up at him. "You don't have to do that, I'm alright."

He shrugged it off. "It's no problem, we switch off helping Emily every week so she doesn't have to clean up all on her own." I nodded and continued to wash. "I'm Brady, by the way."

I smiled. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nicole."

We spoke briefly while we washed, I made a small comment about being a part of such a large group of friends and he snorted. "This isn't even all of them," he replied.

"Wow, and you guys all just decided to join the council?" I asked curiously.

"Something like that," he answered uncomfortably, and I decided to drop the subject.

Once we'd finished the dishes I began wiping off the table and counters, all the while Brady following me to dry.

"Hey Brady," I heard someone call from the living room that they'd all moved into. "Where's Collin tonight?"

Brady threw the towel he'd been using into a small bin at the end of the counter and made his way toward the couch. "He had to meet his mom's new boyfriend at dinner tonight. He said he might come out after, depending on how things go."

One of the others groaned. "Man he's gonna be pissed we didn't leave him any food, his mom's cooking sucks."

Emily smacked the one that had just spoken on the head with her plate as she walked toward the kitchen. "Language, Paul," she chastised. "Besides, we'll figure something out for him if he's still hungry. We always do."

Being around this atmosphere I felt a pang in my chest as I realized I still hadn't called my sisters yet. I sauntered over to Emily as she scrubbed her plate. "Do you mind if I use your phone to call Shar and Lacey?"

"Oh honey, of course not, go right ahead," she smiled warmly at me as she began scooping the cookies off the pans with a spatula and placing them on a decorative Christmas plate.

I grabbed the phone from the dock on the wall opposite of the counter, and dialed the familiar number. I rang three times before my eldest sisters angelic voice boomed through the speaker. "Hello?"

"Hey, Shar," I said quietly as I pushed my way up the stairs and into my new room.

"Why the hell is this the first call we've received from you?" Sharlene spat at me. I heard Lacey in the background yelling, too, and I sighed. If there was one thing that I knew about my sisters, it was that they were impatient and very feisty. They got those qualities from my mom. I was always a little bit more reserved than the others, and more patient. But I still had the fierceness that was in my blood, and the loyalty towards my family. That much was apparent.

"You could have called me too, you know," I argued back. After Sharlene had graduated high school, she'd moved to Pennsylvania and enrolled in Penn State, which was my father's alma mater. One year later, Lacey did the same thing. They found an apartment for pretty cheap and moved in together. I was expected to follow suit next year, but I was still unsure of what I wanted to do with my life.

Sharlene had known from the time she was ten, there was no other way for her to go but journalism. As for Lacey, she'd had a few bumps in the road, but she's now in her first semester of business and entrepreneurship, loving every minute. When it comes back to me, I'm at a loss.

All I knew was that I wanted to be a mom. But telling someone that in this day in age would get looks from every side, and a speech from Lacey in the power of women.

"We miss you so much," I heard Lacey's voice gush and I could tell she picked up the other phone.

"I miss you guys, too," I sighed, leaning back onto my new bed.

"Are things going alright there?" Sharlene asked. "Is it awkward since we haven't seen Emily in forever?"

I began fiddling with the button of my jeans, and glanced around the room. "No actually, everything has been really good."

"Are you lying?" Lacey asked quietly.

I rolled my eyes. "No, I'm not lying. Emily is really amazing, basically the same as she was ten years ago just older now, and Sam is really nice too. But I'm still sad, of course, just like I know you guys are too."

They were both quiet for a moment before Lacey broke the silence and changed the subject. "Do you start school on Monday?"

We talked mindlessly for about fifteen more minutes when I said I should probably get off, since we were using up Emily's long distance. They made me promise to call them Monday night and tell them all about my first day of school, and then it was quiet in my room again.

I relished in the yellow on my walls, happy with my choice in color. I could hear my mom's angelic laugh and feel her in the room, she'd touch the wall with her slim fingers. "It's the color of sunshine," she'd always say. "What's not to love?"

I closed my eyes carefully, running memories through my head and slowly drifted to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. **

Chapter 4

The sun shining in woke me up before eight o'clock in the morning on Sunday and I turned over with a groan. Tomorrow was my first day of school, and I was nowhere near enthusiastic. I had absolutely no idea what kind of curriculum I'd be thrown into, I just hoped I wouldn't get too far behind.

When I pushed the covers off my body, a cool breeze hit my arms and I shivered. I was used to early winters, it had already snowed about a foot in Maine the first of November. I pulled on my old cheerleading sweatshirt and bounded down the stairs.

The smell of coffee and bacon hit me hard and I relished in Emily's cooking. She was already dressed in jeans and a blouse, transferring bacon from a skillet to a plate. She turned toward me and smiled.

"Good morning, Nicole!" she chirped. A morning person.

I spotted the coffee pot on the edge of the counter and poured myself a cup, the coffee pot looked almost industrial, it was huge. A large stack of plates were set in the middle of the table, along with a pile of silverware. I figured that this meant the boys were coming over this morning, and I looked a mess. I glanced down at my sweatpants and Emily caught me examining.

"They'll probably be here in about ten minutes," she estimated and I nodded. I hurriedly changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a dark blue sweater, pulling on some fuzzy socks when I felt how cold the old hard wood was on my feet.

After I brushed my hair and teeth, I stared at myself in the mirror. If you'd look at a picture of my mother and my father, I was the exact mixture of both of them. My skin was clear, and it was obvious that I had Quileute blood. My eyes were light brown, as was my hair, both highly ordinary. My hair fell just below my shoulders, with slight curls at the end, and I was shorter than average. I wasn't necessarily thin, but I wasn't overweight either, a trait I could thank my mother for. "They're curves," she'd always tell me.

My sisters looked more like my father, their skin tones and hair lighter, and thinner than all get out, but other than that we looked basically the same. It was our personalities that shined through.

I glided down the stairs, coffee in hand, picking up on a few of the voices that I remembered from the night before. Everybody was already here, sitting around the table with plates full of food. Emily smiled at me when I turned the corner.

"I saved you a plate," she whispered, handing me a plate equipped with scrambled eggs, bacon, and two cinnamon rolls. It smelled like heaven. Emily turned toward Sam when she spoke next. "Can you get a couple extra chairs and make some room around the table?" Sam left the room and came back carrying three chairs, and the boys all scooted around to make room.

There was an awkward silence for a moment as I nibbled on the cinnamon roll, before someone spoke up. "So, Nicole, we hear you're from Maine," one of the boys said. I remember that he'd been at dinner a few nights before, but I was never properly introduced to him, or any of them really.

"I'm actually from the Makah Reservation," I replied quietly. "We moved to Maine when I was about eight."

He stared at me for a moment, until Emily squeaked a little. "Oh, Nicole," she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry we never introduced anybody the other night!"

"Oh, it's okay Emily," I assured her.

They introduced me to everyone anyway, going around the table. It wasn't until we got to Collin that something seemed to sort of shift. His eyes locked to mine and I found that I was unable to look away. All of them were beautiful, with the deep Quileute skin and dark hair and eyes, but Collin's eyes were different. They weren't brown, but hazel, and he wore his hair a little bit shaggier than the rest of them. His features were very angular, his lips full and his teeth straight and white. You could see the definition of his muscles through his black tshirt, and I'd never seen anything so beautiful in my life.

I felt my heart speed up a few notches and my breathing hitch, before I let my eyes fall back down to my plate shyly. Conversation had been picked up around me and I hadn't noticed. I dared another small glance back to Collin and he was still staring at me, a smile playing at the corner of his lips. I was lost in his features and I couldn't look away.

"Do you know what time the game starts today?" The one who was sitting next to me, Quil, boomed so loudly I jumped and looked away.

"Yeah kick off is at 3:30," Sam replied and I groaned internally. I'd never been a fan of football, let alone professional football.

I started to wrack my brain to figure out what I would do with my time, as my room was more organized than I'd ever need it to be and I hadn't started school yet which meant no homework. Maybe I could google the school and the classes, to see what kind of material I'd be learning here? Although it was probably unlikely that they had a website at all, considering how small the tribal school was.

I tried to preoccupy my thoughts rather than looking back to Collin, with which I was unsuccessful, but he had finally looked away and I felt myself blush. Of course he looked away, why would he be looking at me anyway? Was there something on my face, or in my teeth?

When the boys started to finish their food they all began gravitating toward the couch. Emily started in on the clean-up and I immediately began helping her, sneaking small glances at Collin as he finished the last bit of his cinnamon roll. His eyes met mine again and I blushed, drying the dishes hurriedly.

When he finished his plate he handed it to Emily and turned to me. My heart sped up and he grinned widely at me.

"Nicole," he said quietly, leaning his elbow on the counter. I'd never heard anyone say my name so gloriously. "How do you feel about taking a walk with me a little later?"

I hesitated for a moment. I wasn't sure what kind of rules Emily would have about going out, or rather dating, if that's what he was implying. Was that what he was implying.

"I can show you around La Push," he persuaded, his eyebrows raising. "There's not a whole lot, but there's a pretty cool beach."

"It's pretty cold outside," I reminded him. Although, in that moment I felt anything but cold. It was like heat was radiating off of him.

"You should go," Emily spoke up and I turned toward her. She smiled. "Collin's lived here his whole life, he knows the rez like the back of his hand."

"Um, okay?" I replied, turning back toward Collin.

He beamed at me, straightening up. "Cool, I gotta go home and take care of some things, but I'll be back around noon."

He yelled goodbye to the rest of the boys and waltzed out the door, without a jacket I might add, and I turned back to Emily.

She smiled at me as I continued to dry the dishes. "Every Sunday we have a sort of family dinner at about 5 o'clock, and it switches between houses, and tonight it's at Paul's house. He lives with his fiancé, Rebecca, and I usually leave around two-thirty to help with cooking. Is that alright with you?"

"That sounds great," I replied. "I can help too, of course."

"Something tells me you may be a bit preoccupied," she grinned. I was unsure of what she meant, but decided to let it go, still trying to decide if I was going on a date.

**AN: I know that I haven't really explained myself much here. You'll find out more about her parents' accident as the story goes on. I love reviews, though, so feel free! Thanks. –J.**


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